


Nothing to Lose

by captbarnes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drabble, Implied Slash, M/M, Project Rebirth, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25088533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captbarnes/pseuds/captbarnes
Summary: A pre-serum Steve thinks about what he has to lose. (A short drabble.)
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Nothing to Lose

Erskine likes Steve for Project Rebirth because he'd do anything to serve his country. He's determined to do the right thing and he doesn't care about the cost; that's exactly the kind of soldier they need. That drive, combined with the serum, will make Steve unstoppable — will help them win. It's why he stops him in that hallway, why he convinces him that this will be the right thing.

Steve agrees, of course he does, because he wants to be useful, wants to be able to stop the bullies instead of getting his ass handed to him in the corner of an alley. More than that, he wants to help his country, wants to fight just as his father had for what's right. He tells Erskine that he wants to help and Erskine smiles at him in that reassuring way. Are you nervous? he asks, and Steve doesn't bother with bravado. "Yes," he says simply, feeling the weight of it sink into his stomach.

You'll be fine, Erskine tells him as he pats a hand firmly on Steve's small, bony shoulder. Anyway, you've got nothing to lose.

(Images of Bucky race through Steve's mind when he closes his eyes: Bucky sprawled across couch cushions they'd laid across the floor, Bucky in his uniform in the alley, Bucky's hair slicked back, Bucky's hand heavy on Steve's shoulder. He wonders where Bucky is and if he's okay, if he's made new friends already. He probably has, Steve thinks; he's always been so good at that. Steve remembers the old, worn out blanket they used to huddle under when the heat would go out during a Brooklyn winter. He wonders what happened to it.

They come and go like flashes: Bucky, Bucky, Bucky.)

Quietly, Steve clears his throat. "Yes, I do," he mumbles.


End file.
